Curated OER
Dependence of Light Intensity on Distance
Hopefully you have a sensor interface for your physics class to use with graphing calculators when collecting data with a light sensor. If so, read on. Use this resource for learners to predict and then test whether or not the intensity...
Curated OER
Physics: Forces and Motion
Students recognize the effect of Earth's gravity on an object's weight. In this force and motion instructional activity students understand the role of gravity when you drop an object. Students experiment with small items. Students...
Curated OER
Gravity: It's GREEEAAATTT!
Students calculate effects of gravitational force on planets, discuss the effects of weightlessness on the human body and describe and demonstrate how objects in a state of free fall are accelerated by gravity at an equal rate.
Curated OER
Acceleration, Drag, Gravity, Motion, Forces, and Friction
Eighth graders build and run mousetrap cars in order to measure distance, time, and mass for their cars. They use these measurements to calculate average speed and kinetic energy, then create a slide show to visually explain how the car...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination - Physics 2010
Give every type of learner in your physics class an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned throughout the year. From analyzing tables and graphs, to evaluating diagrams and solving problems, there is an outstanding variety of...
Cornell University
Friction
Friction and gravity are always at odds! Learners complete a set of activities to explore the relationship between friction and gravity. Groups make conclusions about the factors that affect the amount and type of friction between surfaces.
LABScI
Kinematics: The Gravity Lab
Falling objects can be brutal if you don't protect your noodle! Scholars explore the motion of falling objects through measuring short intervals to determine if the distance traveled varies with time. Building off of this, scholars...
Curated OER
Fractions, Decimals, and Gravity
Young scholars discuss how weight is directly related to gravitational force on a planet. Students then choose Space Traveler as companion and compute how much their guide weighs on various planets, based on each planet's relative...
Curated OER
Center of Gravity Problem Set
Students read a NASA Web-based text, then demonstrate an understanding of the text by using it to complete an activity on the center of gravity of a commercial cargo airplane.
Curated OER
Forces and Motion-The Downhill Racer
Learners calculate a toy car's velocity and acceleration. In this force and motion lesson, students build ramps and attach a dropper to a toy car, which is released down the ramp. Learners calculate and graph velocity and acceleration...
Curated OER
The Solar System and the Forces Behind It
Sixth graders discover why planets stay in orbit. In groups, they use everyday materials to examine the effect of gravity of objects and calculate how mass changes based on gravitational pull. To end the lesson, they discuss how...
Curated OER
How Many Drops of Water Can Fit on a Penny?
Using a simple method, learners explore gravity, cohesion, and adhesion. They perform an experiment in which they determine how many drops of water can fit on a penny. Afterwards, they discuss their results.
Curated OER
Gravity
Students perform inquiry in response to the question "Do objects fall at the same rate?", teacher candidates discuss a model experiment for secondary students to discover the answer, including recording and analyzing data.
Curated OER
Weight A Minute
Students watch a video and engage in hands-on activities which introduce scientific information made real through re-cognition and understanding the phenomena of gravitational force and how it impacts life on our planet.
Curated OER
Gravitational Acceleration
Students investigate the interdependence of mass and gravitational acceleration using computer simulation. In this physics lesson, students derive the formula for acceleration due to gravity. They calculate air resistance on falling...
Curated OER
Physics and Me
Sixth graders compare and contrast mass and weight. In this physics instructional activity, 6th graders calculate speed given distance and time information. They construct a rocket and relate this to Newton's 3rd Law of motion.
Curated OER
Lesson-Mass and Weight
Student identify the three stationary positions, on the Earth, on the Moon, and in a house floating atop the cloud layers of Jupiter. They also identify the three orbiting positions, orbiting the Earth, orbiting the Moon, and orbiting...
Curated OER
Walking on Water
Students use this problem to help them to relate to force vectors: Suspend a meterstick horizontally between two tables. Place a 1kg mass in the middle of the meterstick. Notice the bend of the meterstick. Explain why the meterstick...
Curated OER
Exploring Balancing Forces
Students develop critical thinking skills and explore the concept of force. In this balancing forces instructional activity students complete an activity and explain the conclusion.
Curated OER
DEAD MAN'S CURVE
Ninth graders, after being given a unique scenario and a task sheet on Dead Man's Curve, calculate and explain the force needed to keep a car on a curve using a set of formulas and a geometric property of circles. They utilize and create...
Curated OER
Newton's Laws
Middle schoolers give examples of each of Newton's three laws as they occur in everyday experiences. They visually represent and differentiate the difference between a direct proportion and an inverse proportion. Students explain how...
Curated OER
Projectile Motion
High schoolers observe projectile motion and calculate the speed of a baseball based on the time and distance traveled. They record the time, measure the distance, and draw the path of the ball's travel on a data table.
Curated OER
Terminal Velocity
Students calculate acceleration due to gravity with the measurements of the period of a pendulum or measurements of the time for an object to fall from different heights. They observe and measure the effect of air resistance on the...
Curated OER
Practice Problems for the Net Force Particle Model
For this forces worksheet, pupils practice writing net force equations and solving for acceleration and distance objects travel in different situations. This worksheet has 7 problems to solve.